Method of knitting



April 21, 1953 E. s'r. PIERRE 2,635,441

' METHOD OF KNITTING Filed July 18, 1951 F/Ciim- Fla].

F1 3a.. F1623.

Patented Apr. 21, 1953 METHOD OF KNITTING Eugene St. Pierre, Pawtucket, R. I., assignor to Hemphill Company, Pawtucket, R. 1., a corporation of Massachusetts Application July 18, 1951, Serial No. 237,351

3 Claims.

This invention relates to a mechanism for and method of knitting on a circular, independent needle, knitting machine and, in particular, on this type of machine when equipped with a dial and capable of knitting rib or plain fabric and of transferring automatically from rib to plain.

As is well known, the change of knitting from rib to plain fabric involves the transfer of loops from dial needles to cylinder needles and, to accomplish this, dial and cylinder needles are brought into contact with each other so that cylinder needles can be projected upwardly through dial needle loops which are then re leased by the dial needles. To assist in the bringing together of the dial and cylinder needles at the time of transfer, it has been the practice to position the dial slightly eccentric to the cylinder so that the dial needles will gain and lose with respect to the cylinder needles. The eccentricity of the dial is so arranged that each dial needle will gain on a cylinder needle sumciently to be in position to make actual contact with it at the transfer. This is described, for example, in U. S. Patents #2,255,068 and #2,385,611. However, as shown in these patents, contact between the dial and cylinder needles is not effected until the dial needles have been fully projected for the purpose of transfer and the cylinder needle, which has been moving at a lower level than the dial needle is projected upwardly, engages the dial needle and immediately passes through the dial needle loop. This method requires that the dial and cylinder needle be positioned with such relative precision that the cylinder needle will make contact with the correct side of the dial needle and will not strike its bottom edge or pass over to the wrong side. Since both cylinder and dial needles are bound to become somewhat misaligned during use, it is quite possible for either of these happenings to occur with the result that an imperfect transfer is made.

By the method of this invention, each cylinder needle involved is raised to contacting level with a dial needle some distance ahead of the area of transfer where their relation is such that they cannot contact each other. They then travel in this relation towards the area of transfer. If the dial needles have previously been withdrawn into the dial, as is usually the case, at some point during this travel each will be projected sufficiently to overlap a cylinder needle. Therefore, before contact both the cylinder and dial needle are positioned to make it.

Continued rotation of the dial and cylinder will,

consequently, bring the dial and cylinder needles into contact after which the dial needle is projected fully for the transfer. Thereupon the cylinder needle may be projected upwardly through the loop on the dial needle after which the dial needle may be withdrawn leaving the loop transferred onto the cylinder needle.

To explain the method in greater detail, reference will be made to the drawing of which Figs. 1 and 1a, 2 and 2a, 3 and 3a, and 4 and 4c represent diagrammatically four characteristic steps of the method. These figures also disclose a novel and preferred type of dial needle and its mode of operation.

As a preliminary to transfer and before the projection of dial needles is begun, the cylinder needles to which loops are to be transferred from dial needles are raised so that their hooks are in the same horizontal plane as the dial needles. Thereafter, the dial needles are projected as shown in Fig. 1. It will be noted at this point that the hook of a cylinder needle I overlaps the partially projected dial needle 2 at about the rear end of the open dial needle latch 3. From Fig. la, it will be noted that the dial and cylinder needles referred to are spaced apart in approximately the relative positions maintained during the knitting of rib fabric. From this point, the dial needles, such as 2, gain on the raised cylinder needles, such as I, until contact is made between these needles as shown in Figs.

2 and 2a. This results from the eccentricity of the dial which, as already explained, is so arranged as to obtain such contact shortly prior to the beginning of the transfer operation.

Thereafter, the dial needles, such as 2, are fully projected, as shown in Fig. 3, so that cylinder needle I moves into the recess 4 in dial needle 2 so that it is directly below the dial needle loop 5 which, because of the projection of the dial needle, has passed from the hook to the abutment 6 of the shank and from there extends across the recess 4 and across a full-thickness portion 1 of the dial needle behind the recess 4. The abutment of the dial needle is also of full thickness so that the dial needle loop 5 bridges recess 4 leaving a space between it and the bottom of the recess through which cylinder needle I can pass with certainty.

Heretofore, cylinder needles have been made with a recess for the same purpose as recess 4 but the recess has been so positioned that, when the needles have been fully projected for transfer, the dial needle loops have extended from the rear end of the shank to across some por- 3 tion of the bottom of the recess itself. Consequently, with these needles the yarn enters the recess instead of bridging it with the result that the cylinder needle has greater difficulty in passing through the dial needle loop.

The upward projection of cylinder needle I through the loop on dial needle 2 is shown in Figs. 4 and 4a. As seen in Fig. 40,, contact between the cylinder and dial needle is maintained. The transfer is now completed and the dial needles may be withdrawn leaving the dial needle loops, such as 5, on the cylinder needles.

The advantages of this method of transfer is that the dial and the hooks of cylinder needles are first brought into the same plane and are later brought into contact horizontally and that thereafter the repositioning of the needles for transfer is brought about by horizontal projection of the dial needles so that they slide along the hooks of the cylinder needles. The relative motion of the cylinder needle hooks and the dial needles has theeffect of causing the hooks to pass into the front end of'the recess 4 and move further into them'until they are positioned squarely below the dial needle loops which, as explained, bridges the recess. By this method, it is impossible for the cylinder needles to strike the bottom of dial needles orto come up on the wrong side of the dial needles. Also, the entire depth of recess 4 is inside of the dial needle loop 5 so that all possible space is provided for the passage of the cylinder needle through the dial needle loop.

The dial needle 2 is, in general, the subject of co-pending U. S. Patent No. 2,603,958. However, the dial needle shown in the drawing is novel with respect to the position and shape of recess 4. As will be seen from the drawing, the recess begins approximately mid-way of the shank of the needle and terminates rather abruptly at a point which will lie slightly back of the back of the cylinder needle when it is raised, as shown in Fig. 4. Its termination is also at a point in front of the point where the dial needle loop will cross the bottom of the dial needle, as is shown in Figs. 3 and 4. Consequently, the cylinder needle can enter the recess 4 of the dial needle and become fully positioned for transfer before making any attempt to pass through the dial needle loop and its ultimate projection through the dial needle loop is made much more certain by the fact that this loop is supported only by parts of the needle of maximum thickness and extends completely across the recess.

Iclaim:

l. A method of transferring on circular, independent needle, knitting machines loops of knitted fabric from dial needles having transfer recesses in their shank to cylinder needles which includes the steps of drawing the yarn of said loops on said dial needles across said recesses, said yarn being supported by the outer surface of the needle shanks on either side of said recesses, bringing the hooks of said cylinder needles into contact with the shanks of said dial needles forward of said recesses, extending said dial needles while maintaining the contact of said cylinder needle hooks with said dial needle shanks so that said hooks are caused to enter said recesses and pass under said yarn, extending said cylinder needles into said loops, and withdrawing said dial needles to disengage said loops therefrom.

2. The invention according to claim 1 and wherein the hooks of said cylinder needles are first raised to the horizontal plane of said dial needles and are then brought into contact with the shanks of said dial needles forward of said recesses.

3. A method of transferring loops of knitted fabric on a knitting machine from a first set of needles having transfer recesses in their shanks to a'second set of needles which includes the steps of drawing the yarn of said loops to be transferred across the transfer recesses in said first set of needles without said yarn entering said recesses, bringing the hooks of said needles of said second set into contact with the shanks of the needles of said first set forward of said recesses and causing said hooks to be slid into said recesses and under said yarn by relative motion of said sets of needles while maintaining said contact.

EUGENE ST. PIERRE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,111,476 McAdams Mar. 15, 1938 2,240,761 Cloutier May 6, 1941 2,292,940 Holmes et al Aug. 11, 1942 2,575,365 Sirmay Nov. 20, 1951 2,588,451 Zeruneith Mar. 11, 1952 

